Barred Rock or Cuckoo Marans????

I bought this "barred rock" for my hubby who loves them. Well, I noticed as she grew that she didn't look the same as our previous barred rock. The bars were wider and more pronounced. Our currect girl looks more mottled. Has white legs, and she just started laying these huge dark brown eggs. Not quite chocolate, I think this may be due to being a hatchery bird, which is what my laying flock is mostly composed of. I can't figure out how to post pictures????? Figured it out!

You will be able to post pictures after a few more posts. New members are restricted for a little bit to avoid unwanted spam.

It does sound like you may have a Cuckoo Marans. Cuckoos' barring isn't as crisp as the Barred Rocks' and egg colour in Cuckoos can be a bit lighter than the Black Copper Marans, for example, although several serious Marans breeders are getting some seriously dark Cuckoo eggs as I saw at Crossroads.

They aren't really bred for even barring, more for production. Also, most hatcheries don't pay any attention to skin color, and hatchery birds tend to lay a wide variety of egg colors, even in the same "breed".